Handle lock for car switches



' P 2- c. .1. ANDERSON 1,375,545

HANDLE LOOK FOR CAR SWITCHES Filed April 15, 1929 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES CARL J. ANDERSON, or cnxceeo, ILL mois HANDLE LOCK FOR CAR SWITCHES Application filed April 15,

My invention relates to handle locks for car switches, used more particularly in elevator cars, and has forits object improvements in devices of that class. I

In tall buildings, elevator cars must carry large numbers of passengers to serve the many floors, and they must be as small as possible so as not to cut down the oflice space available forv tenants. The two: things are incompatible, but must co-exist. The car operator and switch for controlling the car must be inside of the car, and consequently mustoccupy space wanted for passengers. It is the object of the present invention to cause the switch to occupy as little space as possible, and particularly when the car is stopped at a landing to have the handle for operating the switch fold back automatically so as not to interfere with the movements of the operator and passengers when loading and unloading the car.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a front elevation'of an'elevator car switch with my improvement applied thereto; gig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section; an

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the parts immediately involved in my improvement.

In the said drawing,'10 is the case of a car switch, on the front face of which is a ring composed of contact members 11, 12 and 13, and a piece of insulation 14.

Secured to the central shaft 16 of the switch, by means of the screw 15, is a lever 17 for turning said shaft. Also secured to the shaft 16 by bolts (not shown) passing thru lugs 18 is a double armed lever 19 shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. On the lever 19 are contact pieces 20 and 21 for making electrical connections from the contact member 11 to either 12 or 13. The parts so far described are previously known things to which my present invention is to be applied.

On the upper end of the lever 17 is a bracket 22 to which a handle23 is pivoted by a pin 24 carried in said bracket. The lower part of the handle is cut away to form a recess,and in this recess is a pin 25 (Fig. 2) for receiving a hook 26 on a part 27 of a slide 28.

The lower end of the lever 17 is at a point 1929. Serial N6. 355,161.

29 (Figs. 1 and 2), and secured on the back a face of the lever by screws 40 is an extra plate or thickening piece 30 having its upper end at'the dotted line 31 inFig. 1 and its lower end atthe dotted line 32. The slide 28 is in the form of a rectangle having an interior opening having its edges engaging and guided by the piece 30 as a guide. I i The lower part of the slide 28 is bent forward at 33, and below this point the slide is in front of the guide 30. 7 Below the point 33, the slide is narrower as shown at 34, and enters a space between bosses or projections 35 on the case 10. The extreme lower end of the part 34 is turned inward and has a small When the lever 17 is in the position shown in Fig.1, one of its contact pieces is in engagement with the insulation 14, and no current flows thru the switch. In this position, the spring 39 acts to move the slide 28 downward so that its lower end is between the bosses 35 0n the case .10. This looks the switch against accidental misplaceinent, and at the same time elevates the handle 23 from the horizontal position (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3) to the inclined, position shown best in Fig. 2. I

' Heretofore, when switches of this kind have been lockedv in neutral or idle position, the handle has remained in horizontal position, andthe lever was unlocked by moving some piece by pressure of the thumb, or in some equivalent manner.

In. the present construction, it is the handle itself which ismoved from a. tilted or inclined position, and insuch movement the lever is unlocked so that it may beturned to complete acircuit thru either contact member 12 or contact member'13. The mere weight of the hand in placing it upon the handle to move it serves to automatically On the stud 38, and beunlock the lever, with the result that this construction simplifies the operations of the operator.

The present device is particularly useful in elevator cars where space is limited and often crowded. WVhen a handle lies in a horizontal position, as it always does in previous constructions, it occupies valuable space and is much more liable to be struck than is a handle which automatically tilts back toward the wall when not in use by the operator.

What I claim is:

1. In a switching device for elevator cars, contact members for starting and stopping the car, a locking device holding the contact members in neutral position when the car is stopped, a handle for releasing the locking devices and for moving the contact members, and automatically operating means for locking the locking devices and folding the handle back whenthe contact members are in neutral position.

2. In a switching device of the class described, a lever for operating said switching device, a slide mounted upon said lever, said slide having an extension serving as a locking member to hold said lever in a neutral position, a spring between said lever and slide and-serving to move the slide to locking position,'and a handle mounted upon said lever, said handle being movable in one direction to move the slide with respect to the lever and movable in another direction to operate the switching'device and said handle being moved automatically to tilted position when released at its neutral position.

3. In a switching device of the class described, a lever, a handle secured to the lever and serving to move said lever to operate the switching device, a pivotal connection between the lever and handle by which the handle may be moved in a direction other than that in which it is moved to operate the switching device, a slide mounted upon said lever and having one end connected to said handle and the other end designed to engage some partof the switching device to hold the lever in a neutral position, and a spring acting to move the slide to locking position and the handle to an inclined position with respect to said lever, said parts being so arranged that upon the handle being moved on its pivot from its inclined position to a position suitable for moving the lever, said pivotal movement of the handle will move the slide from locking position.

4. In a car switching device, the combination with a ring composed of stationary contact members and an insulation sepa-' rating two of them, of a shaft located at the axis of said ring, movable contact members carried bythe shaft, a lever arranged to move said shaft so as to complete electrical connections thru two of said stationary contact members, a handle pivoted to said lever and serving as a means for moving it, looking means carried by the lever and operated by a movement of the handle on its pivot, said locking means being arranged to hold the lever from displacement when one of said movable contacts is in engagement with said insulation, and a spring under tension to move the locking means to locking position and to elevate the handle on its pivot.

- 5. The combination with stationary contact members, movable contact members and a case, of a lever for moving the movable members to make and break electrical connections with the stationary members, a slide mounted uponthe lever and serving to engage a part of the case so as to lock the lever and movable members at a predetermined position, a handle pivoted to the lever and connected to the slide so as to move it to and from looking position, and a spring automatically operating to move the slide to locking position and the handle away from a position convenient for moving the lever.

6. In a switching device for elevator cars, a centrally pivoted lever, electrical contact makers on opposite ends of said lever, stationary contact members with which the contact makers engage for operating the car, said contact members being so arranged that there is a central position in which no electric circuit is completed, a slide mounted upon the lever and having locking means at one end for holding the lever in neutral position, a handle for moving said lever, and automatically operating means for moving the slide to operate the locking means and to fold the handle back when said lever is moved to neutral position.

CARL J. ANDERSON. 

